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The transport protocol of the Alpine Convention has entered into force in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein and Slovenia, having been ratified by the EU over the summer. The Alpine Convention is an international treaty signed by the eight Alpine countries and the EU, aimed at protecting the Alps. Its transport protocol was agreed in 2000, and has a clause that states: ‘The contracting parties shall refrain from constructing any new large-capacity roads for transalpine transport.’ However, Italy held out against ratification until it was persuaded to sign a year ago, and Switzerland has refused to sign the transport protocol, leaving its legal standing in some doubt.

Switzerland is reassessing its view of trans-Alpine transport, a process that could have repercussions for the whole of Europe. A recent consultation process will lead to a proposal, expected next month, to revise the Swiss Road Transit Traffic Act to allow a second trans-Alpine road tunnel, a move that has alarmed environmental campaigners.

Poland’s council of ministers has agreed on a new route for the Via Baltica motorway that has earned the approval of environmental campaigners who fought a long battle to protect an ancient wetland site threatened by an earlier route.

One of the most publicised road building battles of recent years ended last month when the Polish government said the Via Baltica trans-European motorway would not be routed through the Rospuda Valley, a Natura 2000 protected area.

Over a thousand protected nature areas in Europe are under serious threat from high-profile EU-funded transport infrastructure projects according to a new report by BirdLife International, RSPB and other environmental groups [1], which was presented in the European Parliament today.

On 13 May 2008 at the European Parliament in Brussels, T&E together with BirdLife International, CEE Bankwatch and EEB launched a groundbreaking report on unifying EU transport and nature conservation policy.